Israeli Police Question Netanyahu's Son, Newspaper Execs in Criminal Probe

JERUSALEM, Israel-- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son, Yair, was questioned by Israeli authorities Tuesday as part of a criminal investigation.

The probe involves allegations that the prime minister and his wife, Sarah, received thousands of dollars worth of champagne and cigars, and that a family friend gave concert tickets and hotel stays to Yair Netanyahu in exchange for influence with his father. 

Police also questioned two newspaper executives, the publisher of Yediot Ahronot and the editor-in-chief of Israel Hayom, in a separate investigation into whether Netanyahu tried to arrange more favorable coverage from one of the papers in exchange for weakening the other. 

Although Yair Netanyahu is not a suspect in the investigations, he has now taken his turn before police.  Both the prime minister and his wife have faced hours of questioning in the cases, opened by Israel's attorney general.  

Netanyahu has continually maintained his innocence, and on Sunday he charged the media with "an orchestrated campaign of unprecedented scope" in an effort to oust him and his government.  He slammed the media's practice of leaking details of the investigation on the nightly news and in newspapers, claiming that it is an effort to pressure the attorney general to issue an indictment.

"I can't defend myself," Netanyahu said on Facebook.  "I can't tell the public the true story behind these matters, which make it clear there was never any crime here."

The media saturation appears to be having an effect.  A new poll by Midgam Research Institute shows 54 percent of Israelis don't believe Netanyahu when he says that nothing will come of the investigations.  But another poll shows that the prime minister remains, by a significant margin, the leader Israelis want to be prime minister.